


i love you  (ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?)

by LilaacStars



Series: late night ideas [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluffy, Mutual Pining, Post Reveal, Pre-Relationship, aren't they cute?? and also dumb, bed sharing, post breakup, post reveal post relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 18:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20728691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilaacStars/pseuds/LilaacStars
Summary: "What brings her here in the middle of the night? What makes her cry outside of her apartment as the skies pour down?Why is she looking at him like she just saw a ghost?Why does she look like she has been hurt? "





	i love you  (ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?)

**Author's Note:**

> oops another phone-drabble (super self-indulging)  
however, this one turned into a fic (im back home so i got my laptop!)  
i got inspired by that lyric (the one in the title) in cruel summer by taylor swift.

The night is cold. It must be dressed up as his heart.

Wearing the same blue tint that drenches so deeply that strokes the core of his soul. 

The lights on the bar are dim and the walls are painted black, it looks like any other hyped up pub with its minimalist vibe and expensive plates, with his hard liquor and the clientele filled in heartache. 

The whiskey on the rocks on his hand, getting warm as the candle at his left burns down its blue flame. 

Adrien throws his head back and drinks the last sip of the liquor, waving at the bartender to bring another to his spot. 

He has lost count of how many he’s drunk, but he is fine. Fine in the sense that he is conscious and can see straight when it comes to his feelings he is everything but fine. He hasn’t been able to sleep well in months. 

He flips the watch on his wrist and then looks at the watch on the wall, they’re off by two minutes but for the propose, he is looking it doesn’t matter. It is too late, he needs to go back home. Tomorrow is going to be a long, long day. 

Adrien waves to the man again and cancels his order, shaking his debit card on his hand, ready to pay for his drinks. 

When he is out of the bar, the smell of wet asphalt hits him. It is just drizzling but it has created a curtain that makes the night blurry. 

With the rain, there’s also a scent of insanity, however, it is uncertain to say if that comes from the weather of it comes from inside his mind. 

No matter the answer is still there in front of his eyes. Chaos runs lose in the streets and he is tempted to follow. 

He starts walking back home, it’s only a few blocks down the road, he only needs to be careful with his step since the sidewalk is slippery because of the rain and being drunk could make things harder than they should be. 

His focus rests fully on his feet, and his arm reaches for the closest wall as a caution strategy, the liquor is already making tricks on him and that’s why when he hears a sob echoing behind him, followed by the clatter of objects he has to process it for long seconds before he realizes he is not the one that has met the ground. 

Adrien looks up, straight to the front. 

There’s a girl under the rain, reaching for all the objects that have fallen from her bag. 

She is wearing a gold dress and there are heels to match at her side. All her hair is wet but is easy to tell that she had it done, maybe even up. 

Adrien takes long steps further, to help her out. 

He might be drunk but he is still a gentleman. 

He kneels down and catches a bottle of dry shampoo and a pair of keys. 

“Here these are yours,” He says loudly, so she will be able to hear him through the rain. Adrien means to say something more but when the girl lifts her head and he gets to see her well, all his words die on his tongue. 

It’s a scene of a movie, he can’t pinpoint the gender, because it could be a drama as well as a thriller. 

What brings her here in the middle of the night? What makes her cry outside of her apartment as the skies pour down? 

Why is she looking at him like she just saw a ghost? 

Why does she look like she has been hurt? 

“Princess,” He whispers. 

The bottle and the keys fall from his hand so he can touch her. Awkwardly and not as soft as he would have liked, he cups her cheeks and makes their eyes connect in a tender sight in which he asks all he can. 

Marinette doesn’t answer, her eyes are filled with tears and the only thing she does is sobbing. 

“What are you doing here?” He asks.

Marinette mumbles inaudibly. 

The rain makes it hard to listen, and her tears make it hard for her to talk. 

Also, she doesn’t look at him directly nor keeps talking to him. Marinette picks up all the objects scattered on the ground and pushes them down her bag to zip it swiftly after that. 

Adrien takes off his anorak and puts it on top of her. If he can’t help her by listening, he’ll make sure she doesn’t get cold. 

Unfortunately, that makes her cry more. 

Fortunately, it makes her louder and finally he is able to understand what she is saying. 

“I don’t want to get married,” Her words rip his heart like nails on a blackboard. It’s not a feeling he expected to have by hearing those words. 

He would be lying if he says he hasn’t dreamt with this moment, but every time he imagined this very same moment, it never had her crying black tears, freezing in the middle of the streets, with bruised knees and letting out uncontrollable sobs. 

This breaks him. 

But this is not the moment to stand motionless and let his thought devour him. Now, he must think fast and help her out. 

“What do I do?” He asks, grabbing her wrists to pull her close to him, “What do you need?”

Marinette bites her lip and her eyes glimmer. Then she throws herself to his arms. 

The bag punches him but he ignores it as he holds her so dearly. 

Between the sobs, the mumbles, the rain and the sound of his manic heart he makes something out of her words. 

“To leave. To not be found. Let’s leave, Adrien.” It echoes in his mind as prayers do in a church. 

His brain starts working. Engines moving and bulbs lighting up, blowing steam. 

Just like an architect can envision a new building, he can see the plan to take her out of town, away from all this pain that is consuming her. 

Adrien pulls her back to the hall of the apartment, to cover from the rain and takes his phone out of his pocket. 

Marinette shrieks and pushes him. It’s not hard but it’s an odd reaction coming from her. 

He takes a step back and looks at her confused. 

“Don’t tell anyone!” She gasps, trying to reach the phone. 

“_ I’m drunk _,” He explains, “I can’t drive you anywhere, I’m calling an uber.”

Marinette’s lips shape in a small “o” and then, covers her face with her hands. 

Taking a step forward she leans and presses her forehead against his chest. 

Adrien wraps his arm around her shoulders and puts his hand on the back of his head, brushing her hair tenderly as he calls for their getaway car. 

The car takes five minutes to arrive and when it does, Adrien has to take Marinette on his arms to get her to the car because she has become a worse mess than she initially was. 

Adrien asks the driver to take them out of town, to which he first denies until the rich boy makes an offer that the driver can’t reject and even smiles at him as he wasn’t screaming angrily at him three seconds before. 

Given the circumstances, he doesn’t get surprised by Marinette’s lack of involvement in the discussion, in another scene she would have jumped to defend him, but now she is numb on the right side of the backseat, looking at the rolling drops in the window and hugging herself, pressing Adrien’s anorak close to her body. 

He reaches for her hand and squeezes it, bringing it close to his lips and kissing her knuckles multiple times. 

“We’ll arrive soon. You can sleep meanwhile, I’ll wake up you up once we are close.”

“Where are we going?” She asks in a whisper. 

“Meaux.” 

It was the first city that came to his mind. 

Only forty minutes away from Paris center, it was close enough to get there fast but far enough for people to not find them. 

Also, he had stayed there for a weekend a couple of years ago. It was a late-night shoot and his father thought it would be safer if he stayed there instead of going back to Paris in the deep hours of the night. 

Marinette intertwines her hand with his and moves to his side. She rests her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes. 

Adrien hugs her and stays in that position for the rest of the road, he doesn’t mind how uncomfortable it turns after a few minutes, because the warmness she evokes inside of him make a bonfire burn and crack in the deepest part of his soul. 

The cold soul, drenching in blue, slowly paints its self with a brighter and more lovely shade that resembles the pink of Marinette’s cheeks, it is like cherry blossoms in the spring. 

In their way out of Paris, his phone chimes multiple times. He doesn’t need to check to know who has sent them.

Nino must be wondering where he is. He has been worrying about him the whole week if not the whole month. 

Alya must be wondering if he knows where Marinette is since they were supposed to be celebrating her bachelor party. 

Another one must be from Marinette’s fiance, who Adrien never acknowledges by his name, not even inside his mind. That’s how much he despises him. Now, after seeing Marinette this way, maybe the feeling leans more towards hatred. 

Adrien ignores every message and focuses on Marinette who is having a hard time falling asleep. 

He hums a few songs, sings a lullaby and tells her stories so she can close her eyes and dream away her pain. 

Instead, something better happens. She laughs. 

Her laugh dies down quickly but it brightens her whole face. She closes her eyes and requests more stories. 

That’s how the whole drive goes. 

Adrien coming up with the dorkiest tales he can imagine, and Marinette giggling at his side. 

It’s three a.m. when they make it to the address Adrien gave the driver. It is the hotel he stayed in those years ago. 

They go out of the car. It has stopped raining so they don’t need to worry about that. 

Adrien pays the driver and waves him goodbye. 

He takes Marinette’s hand and her bag with his free hand, and together they walk to the hall of the hotel. 

Marinette’s feet are bare, something the people that receive them at the hotel dislike. But after Adrien introduces himself, and most importantly, he introduces his credit card, no one seems to mind. 

As he talks with the secretary on the main desk, Marinette waits behind him, not letting go of his hand. 

Adrien meets a problem he hadn’t anticipated. 

The room situation. 

There are only two rooms left, and both rooms only have_ one _ bed. 

They’re close to Disneyland Paris, he shouldn’t be surprised. 

He turns around and looks at her. 

“It’s a king-size… is it a problem?” 

Marinette visibly gulps and her mouth opens while it quivers. 

“It’s fine!” It comes out one or two octaves higher than her usual tone. 

He doesn’t answer. 

There are no other choices. If needed he can sleep on the floor, but for now, he asks for the room. 

After paying their first night, Adrien takes the keys -room 14 on the fifth floor- and walks with Marinette to the elevator. 

Their hands are still linked. 

“I can sleep on the floor,” He says. Now, before it gets too awkward. 

“It won’t be necessary, the bed is big.”

“Are you sure? You didn’t sound sure back at the lobby.”

“I’m sure. We’ve slept together before, right?” Yeah, they had, in both the literal and figurative meaning of the phrase. 

The mirrors on the lift reflect the blush on their cheeks. 

They both look away and thankfully the doors open quickly after that uncomfortable moment. 

“Which room?” Marinette asks, rolling the key on her hand. 

“Fourteen,” Adrien answers, pointing at the end of the hallway. 

Their steps don’t make much noise against the carpet, but they’re so silent that any sound would seem loud. 

When they reach their door, Marinette lets go of his hand. 

He feels empty. Like he has been drained of every gram of energy inside his body as if he has been robbed the spark that keeps him going. 

“How nice,” Marinette mutters when they enter the room. 

Adrien turns the lights on, they radiate a feeble yellow. 

The room is a perfect size, with white walls and black and grey decorations. The king-size looks comfortable and big enough for him to sleep on the edge and not disturb her. 

From the corner of his eye, he sees her shivering. 

“You should take a shower,” He says. He leaves her bag on the small chaise in the corner of the room and then goes to her to help her take off his jacket. “It will warm you up.”

“That’s a good idea.” She nods and walks to the bathroom, without looking back. 

Adrien keeps standing in the middle of the room, realizing a little detail he had no time to think about before. 

He didn’t bring anything with him. 

His clothes are still damp so he won’t be able to sleep in them. He doesn’t have a toothbrush or a phone charger, or any basic need one could think of besides his wallet and phone. 

He doubts the hotel has any clothes to lend him and he doesn’t see a robe anywhere in the room. 

_ Great. Just great. _

The worse part is that he can’t keep wearing these clothes or he’ll catch a bad cold. 

There’s only one option and it’s a terrible one. 

But, he’ll get to explain to her later. She’ll understand. 

Adrien begins to undress until he only has his boxer briefs on, and takes his clothes to the closest heating, so they will dry soon. 

Then he goes to the phone and asks for food. He is sure Marinette must be hungry, and while the liquor has diluted in his system, he still needs to eat something. 

When he hangs up, he has nothing left to do and the tension creeps on his nape. 

The sound of the water rings on his ears, sending shivers down his spine. 

He hasn’t been alone in a room with Marinette in at least two years. Not after they broke up. 

Nothing had been the same after that. They had tried to keep the friendship as it had been before they dated but they never made it. 

There’s not a day that Adrien doesn’t wonder if that is because of him, because he isn’t able to move on and love her like _ just _ a friend again. 

The breakup had been mutual. At that moment he agreed with Marinette, they were not helping the other become the best version of themselves, they were closing themselves from other people and they were having doubts about their feelings. Were they really in love or what they felt was just the magic doing tricks on them? 

Breaking up was a wonderful solution to those doubts. They both got to explore and think about their feelings without the other meddling. 

Those first four months had been incredible, and then it all crumbled down when Adrien realized the mistake he had made. But it was too late and he never tried to win her back. 

Marinette dated and quick enough, quickly than he was comfortable with she got engaged. 

And here they are, six months after that proposal and the crazy plans for the wedding that it is--no, that _ was _ meant to happen in three days. 

Marinette is here with _ him_. 

The chirp of the water shutting down calls his attention and the tension rises on his body. 

“Adrien,” She calls from the bathroom. 

“Yes?”

“I forgot to bring my pajamas, can you take it from my bag?”

“Of course,” He answers, ignoring his stutter. 

Adrien takes the bag from the chaise and looks for her pajamas, but between all the odds and ends there’s only one big navy blue t-shirt. 

He takes it out and walks to the bathroom. 

“Uh, I only found a t-shirt.”

“That’s it,” Marinette says and the door opens the door a little, her hand appearing to catch the clothing. 

Adrien gives it to her and waits until she closes to go back to the room. 

Only a few seconds later, she is out. 

The t-shirt hangs loosely, covering from her neck to the middle of her tights. Her hair is humid and curly, stroking her shoulders. 

Her sight fixes on him and she opens her mouth, blush colors her cheeks. 

“Allmyclothesarewet!” Adrien says fast, stumbling all over his words. He stands up and puts his hand in front of his chest. 

Marinette’s expressions changes, from a confused frown to an amused smile. 

“Are you sure you didn’t want to show off your figure, minou?” She wiggles her eyebrows. 

“Well, you figured me out, my lady,” He laughs and she joins him quickly. 

Marinette sits beside him and throws herself back, to lie in bed. 

Adrien mimics her and shifts his body, bends his elbow and rests his head on his hand. 

“How are you feeling?”

“Better.” 

“Do I get to ask what are you really doing?” Adrien begins, “Is this just a very bad moment of cold-feet, or…”

“Nothing bad has happened,” Marinette says in a dead tone. “It’s… it’s just me.” 

“You make it sound as you weren’t important.”

“I… I think I’m being silly… no, I’m not being silly, if I was then it wouldn’t a big problem, and it would be easy to forget.”

“What is it then?” Adrien extends his hand and with his knuckles, he strokes her cheek, “I won’t tell a soul.” 

“I can’t tell you.” 

“Was that an ‘I _ can’t _ tell you’ or an ‘I can't’ tell _ you _’?” He asks, a little bit scared of her response. 

“A little bit of both.” 

“_ Oh.” _

“Yes, _ oh _.”

Marinette rolls on the bed to face him directly and moving closer to him. The air gets thicker when she is at this distance. 

Adrien resists the urge to let his eyes roam through her body because if he did, his hands would follow the same route. 

They stay in silence for a moment. 

Marinette flutters her eyelashes and starts to hum a similar tune to the one he sang in the car. 

“Thank you for bringing me here,” She whispers. 

“Anytime,” Adrien leans forward and presses one kiss against her forehead. 

They both jolt at the sudden action but quickly go back to the same positions. 

Marinette pulls his hand up to her face and makes him cup her cheek again. 

A phone chimes on the other side of the room. 

“Are they looking for me?” Marinette asks. 

“I guess so. I haven’t checked.” 

“Alya is going to kill me.”

“Not if she can’t find you,” He jokes. 

“Will you make sure of that?” She smiles and moves even closer. 

“If that’s what you want,” Adrien answers but then a thought rings in his mind, “However, it would be nice to know why we’re running away…”

Marinette winces. 

“Is it that bad?” 

“Yes, it’s horrible.” And she sounds convinced of it. 

Marinette jumps out of the bed and approaches the window. Her hands touch the glass and she shakes. 

Adrien follows her. 

He stands at his side, pressing his shoulder against the window. 

“Nette, just tell me. It is better when you can verbalize your fears.”

Marinette shakes her head with fervor. Her lips are pressed together and tears are falling down her cheeks again. 

The lights of the city reflect and Marinette’s skin and tears turn from red to blue, from blue to white. 

“You say he is good but… I mean… you can tell me if he…

“I didn’t lie. This is all about me,” Marinette snivels, “He hasn’t hurt me, he is too nice, too perfect, too… ugh! I’m the one who is making him hurt, I’m the one who’ll hurt him badly!”  
“Marinette, no.” 

Adrien tries to take her hands and turn her around but she jerks back. 

“Princess, you’re good at heart, what makes you think you’re going to hurt him?”

“Because that’s the only outcome,” She shouts and the tears increase and her breathing gets erratic, “I’m awful.”

“Stop saying that,” Adrien begs.

He grabs her hips and pulls her to him, wrapping his arms around her waist. 

“You’re the most wonderful thing in the world.”  
“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.” 

“No,” She whines. 

“Is really that bad, princess?” Adrien seriously wonders if this is as bad as she thinks it is or if she is being overdramatic. Whatever it is, it would be better if he just lets it go, if he can help her see it for what it is. 

“It’s terrible.”

“Just tell me. Let’s figure it out together.” 

Marinette finally hugs him back and cries on his arms. 

Maybe this will be the only thing he’ll get. To comfort Marinette as many times as she needs to. To hold her as she cries, and reassure her that she is the most wonderful person. To tell her he loves her without explicitly say it. 

It is fine. He can do that.

He can be whatever she needs him to be. 

This time, Marinette doesn’t stop crying quickly, but her intensity does decrease. 

She pushes him away and touches his cheek, her fingertips rubbing the corner of his mouth. 

She mumbles but he can’t make much of it, more than the word terrible being repeated over and over again. 

Marinette looks up.

He looks down. 

His lips are so close to hers that he can taste the cherry drink he is sure she had before running away from her party. 

He remembers how her lips used to feel. He remembers how many emotions tangled inside of him before he kissed her and how they all released once her lips were on his. He remembers the moves of her hands, her sounds coming out of her mouth, her nails digging on his shoulder and traveling to his scalp to pull his hair. He remembers the way her skin felt against his thumbs, how her hair tangled and sometimes got in the way of their mouths. He remembers it at all, but memories are not enough to stop his desires. Not when the temptation is right in front of him, like the red apple in the garden of Eden, calling for him, promising to turn all his dreams come true. 

Then he hears the words he profoundly wants to hear. 

A hallucination that makes his heart flip and his ears zoom. 

A hallucination indeed until she repeats it and is too real for him to confuse it. 

Adrien presses his eyes shut tightly and then opens his eyes again. 

Marinette is still looking up, her hands are in fists and she must have realized that he can’t believe what she has said because she repeats it one more time. 

“_ I love you, _” She sobs and the pain pierces through the room. There is no need to explain her words, he knows in which way she is saying it, “Ain’t that the worst thing you’ve ever heard?” 

Adrien is thunderstruck. 

His mouth hangs open and he puts one hand against his chest, checking if his heart is still beating and it is, actually the problem is not his lack of activity but the dangerous increase of the rhythm. 

He dies to tell her, that no, that’s not the worst thing that he has ever heard, that it is actually _ the _best. 

But Marinette looks so gloomy and worried that maybe the straightforward option is not the right one. 

He knows her. 

They have played this game of cat and mouse before. 

“You’ll have to forgive me, my lady,” He whispers, “But, yes I’ve heard worse.”

“Oh, yeah? You’ve heard worse than a love confession coming up from your ex-girlfriend, who came up with the idea of breaking up?” She asks. The sarcasm leaks down every letter. 

“Mm.” He hums and nods.

Adrien’s hands travel up and down her arms, his nose nuzzles in the crook of her neck.

Marinette stiffens.

“So much, worse,” 

“What could be worse?” She whines lowly. 

“Hearing your ex-boyfriend, who accepted that deal and then got too scared to go back for you say that he loves you too.” 

And just like her, he doesn’t need to explain. 

She doesn’t speak, he guesses she’ll keep quiet for long, but she nods. 

Adrien takes a deep sigh and leans forward, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear. 

“_ I love you. _”

Marinette trembles and a soft gasp comes out of her lips. 

“How horrible, uh?” His rich laugh vibrates against her skin. 

Her hands go up and she touches his neck with her palms, pressing her back to his front. 

“Well… horrible indeed,” The melancholy has left her voice, in fact, there’re bubbles of joy sparkling in it. 

“You know what’s really horrible?” Adrien mutters. 

“What?”

“I can’t kiss you.” 

Marinette turns around, she opens her mouth to protest but he sends her a look and it’s gone. 

That doesn’t seem to stop her to do something else. 

She stands on her tippy-toes and kisses her as close to his lips she can without reaching his mouth. Then she proceeds to leave a kiss all over her face, every single spot but his mouth. 

Adrien knows its wrong. He is sure that she knows is wrong too.

He might not like Marinette’s boyfriend, but they were still together. 

_ Technically. _

Ugh, he should have not thought that. 

Because what they’re doing is already cheating, right? A kiss doesn’t make it official.

It does make it worse, though. 

“Your thoughts are loud, chaton,” Marinette hums, and leaves a kiss close to his ear, later giving a soft bite to his earlobe. 

“We can’t do this, you know is not right.”

From the way she whines, he knows how frustrated she is. 

“We could pretend.”

“You’ll feel awful later. This is the liquor and euphoria talking.” 

Marinette pouts and walks away from him, and to the bed. 

She moves the quilts and sheets and hides under them in record time. 

“Marinette,” Adrien says and goes to the bed too, but doesn’t get in. 

“You’re too tempting. Go away.”

He chuckles and moves the sheets, to find her frowning at him. 

“You know I’m doing this because I love you. I want this to work this time, Nette. That means starting it right. You need to break up, we need to talk and sort things out,”

“Can’t we just pretend for a night?” 

“You have no idea how much I want that but… I love you too much, I won’t let you make dumb mistakes you’ll regret later.”

Marinette doesn’t answer but she smiles back at him. It’s tender and her eyes narrow a little, studying him. 

“Okay.” She nods. 

“That’s my princess.” He leans down to kiss her nose, making her giggle. 

“Can we cuddle? That’s innocent, we did it all the time when we were friends.” 

Adrien rolls his eyes. 

It is innocent, but the line was blurry and… oh, be damned! With those eyes looking at him, and that pinkish pout, how could he refuse? 

“To think that I was going to sleep on the floor.” 

Adrien moves the sheets and finds his way next to Marinette, opening her arms for her to accommodate herself. 

“I promise you, tomorrow at this same hour, you’ll be kissing me senseless.”

“I’ll count the seconds,” Adrien said and closed his eyes. 

Holding the love of his life on his arms, he finally able to sleep well again, and to wake up even better with her soft kisses and tender hands. 

But that’s not the best part, the best part is meeting her lips in a soft stroke, and hearing that she already fixed it all, that they’re finally able to build up their relationship again. 

And that’s the best thing he has ever heard. 

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed!!!  



End file.
